Red Rocker Redux? Ridiculous...

This week I've begun work in an online History of Rock class based in Fullerton College, California. For that reason my blog postings may be a shade abbreviated but hopefully still packing some food for thought. For instance Sammy Hagar's brain was picked regarding what he'd do if given the opportunity to rejoin Van Halen. Van Halen has to be the longest running music soap opera this side of Aerosmith. The band, as the book Everybody Wants Some chronicled, has had a troubled, tempestuous history. I was stunned when Sammy Hagar was summarily dismissed because he and band had a lucrative partnership which lasted 11 years. I was thrilled to see David Lee Roth and his ego leave back in 1985 because while his performing chops are unquestioned, so was his arrogance. In comes Sammy, and the raft of chart hits continued. MTV was the unwitting host for a trumped up original Van Halen lineup reunion that nobody with three functioning brain cells would mistake for genuine reconciliation. Extreme's Gary Cherone stepped in. Talented singer, wrong place, even worse time. The one Cherone era VH album failed to go platinum, sank like a stone after its deceptively high debut on the Billboard album chart. In the 2010s Van Halen emerged with Eddie, Eddie's son Wolfgang on bass, Alex, and...surprise...David Lee Roth back in. After the numerous heated exchanges surrounding Dave's ego, his return feels like hooking back up with the ex-girlfriend even though her sight makes your teeth stand on end. Working with thw man was never Eddie's problem...living with his behavior was. So back to Sammy Hagar. Should he rejoin if the circumstance was right. Van Halen has become Three Mile Island fallout shelter over the years right down to Dave and Sammy actually going on tour together. Sammy doesn't need Van Halen. He has his Cabo San Lucas tequila dealings as well as his Chickenfoot side project. If Eddie needs some warped sense of stability having Dave back then that's between Eddie, Dave, and the therapist Eddie ought to have on speed dial. Sammy, don't go there unless you want to risk being thrown under the bus again.